"Ivan Stambolic "was a victim of the criminal regime of Slobodan Milošević, who eliminated his political opponents in a brutal manner", according to the LSV.
They point out that Stambolić was among the first to warn of the catastrophic consequences of nationalism and expressed his fear that it would lead to wars with unforeseeable consequences.
And there was no punishment for Milošević's criminal regime, they note from LSV, there was no lustration, the parties controlled by Slobodan Milošević were not banned - the Socialist Party of Serbia, the Yugoslav Left, the Serbian Radical Party and the Party of Serbian Unity.
LSV concludes that the citizens of Serbia are still suffering the consequences of the absence of lustration, that democracy still has fragile foundations in our society, while authoritarianism is the basic political feature of society.
State crime
The preparation and organization of the murder of Ivica Stambolić, and especially his persistent cover-up and prevention of the investigation, were too complex to be attributed to a small conspiratorial group, "Vreme" wrote in the text "At Her Eminence's Service" published in 2003.
And further: "Zmajevac picnic area, at 453 m above sea level, is one of the most beautiful parts of Fruška Gora. "It is a real medicine for all those who are looking for peace in silence and nature," says the prospectus of the National Park. 'It is only there that one feels the greatness and strength of nature and at the same time the beauty of life.' Ivan Stambolić, the former president of Serbia, could hardly feel any of that while unknown officials escorted him along the forest path that separates from the asphalt road towards Vrdnik. The walk did not last long, and ended in front of a prepared shallow grave with quicklime. They killed Stambolić with two bullets, one of which was fired directly into the back of the head, and then they buried him.
Based on what has been revealed so far from the investigation, this is what the last minutes of Stambolic's life looked like on August 25, 2000. It was one month and one day before the voters of Serbia voted against Slobodan Milosevic for the first and last time. That day, before ten o'clock in the morning, Stambolić left his apartment on Banovo Brdo for his usual morning jog; at the age of sixty-four he was in excellent condition…”
Judgment
Finally, in the third instance, in 2007, the Supreme Court of Serbia confirmed the verdict by which Milorad Ulemek Legija and member of the Special Operations Unit Branko Berček were sentenced to 40 years in prison because they, along with other convicts, in 2000 - by order of Slobodan Milošević, in with the aim of eliminating political opponents - they killed Ivan Stambolić and tried to kill Vuk Drašković in Budva.
"That everything around Ulemek and society is characterized by unusualness is also shown by the internal expert discussion that preceded the third-level proceedings in the Supreme Court, on whether the new Criminal Procedure Act should be applied (the implementation of which was postponed a month ago in the parliament until January 2009 ), which also allows a third-degree appeal to those sentenced to 30-year prison terms, and not only the maximum, as is the case now," "Vreme" wrote in the text "Final Justice".
In all the proceedings conducted against Ulemek, we saw strange departures (even deaths) of prosecutors and judges, manipulations and threats.
MN/FoNet
Read daily news, analysis, commentary and interviews at www.vreme.com